# Navid Negahban (نوید نگهبان)
**Navid Negahban** (نوید نگهبان; born 1968 in Mashhad, Iran) is an Iranian-American actor, producer, and director whose work spans film, television, voice acting, and video games, with more than 160 screen credits. He is best known for playing the al-Qaeda leader Abu Nazir on Showtime's *[Homeland](https://www.edgepedia.org/homeland-tv-series)* (2011–2013), Amahl Farouk, the [Shadow King](https://www.edgepedia.org/shadow-king), on FX's *Legion* (2017–2019), and the Sultan in Disney's live-action *Aladdin* (2019).[1](https://navidnegahban.com/) • [2](https://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/navid-negahban/374821/main/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968 in Mashhad, Iran[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/negahban-navid-1968) |
| Signature roles | Abu Nazir in *Homeland* (2011–2013); Shadow King in *Legion* (2017–2019); the Sultan in *Aladdin* (2019)[1](https://navidnegahban.com/) |
| Languages | Persian, English, German, and Dari[4](https://www.serienjunkies.de/person/navid-negahban/23614/) |
| Career scale | 167+ credits and 28+ awards listed on his official site[1](https://navidnegahban.com/) |
| Producing | Executive producer of *Baba Joon* (2015), which won five Ophir Awards including Best Picture at the Israeli Film Academy[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1041023/) |
| Games | BAFTA Games Award nomination for Best Performer for *1979 Revolution: Black Friday* (2017)[1](https://navidnegahban.com/) |
| Recent television | Faraz Hamzad in FX's *The Old Man* (2022–2024); Abbas Mansuri in Netflix's *The Night Agent* (2025)[1](https://navidnegahban.com/) |
## Early life and exile
At seventeen, a hearing-impaired friend introduced him to a community of deaf artists, with whom he studied mime and physical performance; he has described this as the discovery of the power of silence, of gesture and inner dialogue.[6](https://navidnegahban.com/navid-bio-long-version-final)
He left Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. His own account and IMDb state that he was twenty when he fled, crossing through Turkey and Bulgaria before arriving at a refugee camp in Ingelheim, Germany, where he applied for asylum;[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1041023/) • [2](https://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/navid-negahban/374821/main/) another biographical summary places the departure in 1985, when he was seventeen. In Germany he spent roughly eight years working in theater, including with the Rheinland-Pfalz Theater in [Kaiserslautern](https://www.edgepedia.org/kaiserslautern), before moving to the United States in 1993.[2](https://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/navid-negahban/374821/main/)
## Television career
**Guest-player years.** From 2000 onward Negahban built his career largely through guest roles on American television, appearing in series including *The Shield*, *The West Wing*, *Lost*, *24*, *Criminal Minds*, *The Closer*, *Law & Order*, *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit*, *[NCIS](https://www.edgepedia.org/ncis-tv-series)*, *Without a Trace*, and *The Unit*.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/negahban-navid-1968) • [7](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F53%2F534bb784-5ac2-4aa4-afea-e0e55bcbb0b8.pdf) In *Lost* (2004) he played Omar, the commanding officer of [Sayid Jarrah](https://www.edgepedia.org/sayid-jarrah) in flashback, and in 2010 he took his first longer television arc, in *24*.[4](https://www.serienjunkies.de/person/navid-negahban/23614/)
**Homeland.** The role that brought wide recognition was Abu Nazir, the terrorist leader he played for two seasons of Showtime's *Homeland* from 2011 to 2013.[1](https://navidnegahban.com/) • [4](https://www.serienjunkies.de/person/navid-negahban/23614/) Negahban has said the part was a pivotal one that changed his life, and that in the pilot the character had only two lines; his own team questioned why he wanted it.[8](https://www.iconvsicon.com/2018/04/02/game-changer-navid-negahban-on-his-artistic-evolution-and-role-on-fxs-legion/) The series itself was nominated for a [Screen Actors Guild](https://www.edgepedia.org/screen-actors-guild) award for outstanding ensemble in a drama series in 2013.[1](https://navidnegahban.com/)
**Legion and later series.** In FX's Marvel-based series *[Legion](https://www.edgepedia.org/legion-tv-series)* he played Amahl Farouk, the Shadow King, across the second and third seasons (2017–2019); per Negahban, Farouk became the first Marvel character speaking Farsi, German, English, and French.[9](https://zhmagazine.com/interview-with-navid-negahban/) His subsequent television work includes Morsi in *Curb Your Enthusiasm* (2017), Ali Reza Asgari in Showtime's *Ghosts of Beirut* (2023), Faraz Hamzad in FX's *The Old Man* (2022–2024), and Abbas Mansuri in the second season of Netflix's *The Night Agent* (2025).[1](https://navidnegahban.com/)
## Film work
Negahban's film roles have often been Middle Eastern authority figures, militants, or fathers. In *The Stoning of Soraya M.* (2009) he played Ali, an abusive husband in a drama set in Iran, a performance he has called the most challenging work he has done because he had to let the character take over.[10](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/navid_negahban_2) • [8](https://www.iconvsicon.com/2018/04/02/game-changer-navid-negahban-on-his-artistic-evolution-and-role-on-fxs-legion/) He played an Afghan fighter in *Brothers* (2009), Sheikh Al-Obodi in [Clint Eastwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-eastwood)'s *American Sniper* (2014), General Abdul Rashid Dostum in *[12 Strong](https://www.edgepedia.org/12-strong)* (2018), and the Sultan in Disney's live-action *Aladdin* (2019), directed by [Guy Ritchie](https://www.edgepedia.org/guy-ritchie).[10](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/navid_negahban_2) • [1](https://navidnegahban.com/) Critics have repeatedly singled out these transformations: GQ described him as "the closest thing we have to the late Omar Sharif," and Variety wrote of *Baba Joon* that "Navid once again transforms."[1](https://navidnegahban.com/)
## Voice, games, and producing
Negahban has worked extensively in video games and animation, with credits including *Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands*, *Medal of Honor*, *Assassin's Creed: Revelations*, and *Call of Duty: Black Ops II*.[11](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/navid-negahban.html) He received a BAFTA Games Award nomination for Best Performer for playing Haj Agha in *1979 Revolution: Black Friday*, a game about the 1979 [Iranian Revolution](https://www.edgepedia.org/iranian-revolution), and has said he treats voice work as seriously as on-camera acting because only the voice carries the character's emotional nuance.[1](https://navidnegahban.com/) • [9](https://zhmagazine.com/interview-with-navid-negahban/)
As a producer, he was executive producer of *Baba Joon* (2015), a Persian-language Israeli film in which he also acted, which won five Ophir Awards, the Israeli Film Academy's awards, including Best Picture.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1041023/) • [8](https://www.iconvsicon.com/2018/04/02/game-changer-navid-negahban-on-his-artistic-evolution-and-role-on-fxs-legion/) His short-film work as actor and producer includes *Liberation*, for which he won Best Actor at the 2011 Noor Iranian Film Festival, and *London Arabia* and *The Divorce*, which collected festival awards between 2018 and 2021.[1](https://navidnegahban.com/)
## Writing and directing
Two projects in development mark his move behind the camera. *Tosca Unveiled*, a psychological thriller written and directed by Negahban, adapts Shadi Ghaheri's play *Tosca Tehran*; it follows a Tehran theater troupe staging an uncensored *Tosca* as an act of defiance, and is planned in Farsi, German, and English.[1](https://navidnegahban.com/) *Asher's Command*, a drama inspired by true events adapted from a play by Marilyn Felt, is written and produced by Negahban, who directed the play on stage in 2004 while also playing Samir; its story of an eighteen-year friendship between two men draws on testimonies and interviews.[1](https://navidnegahban.com/) In 2019 he founded the Romany Road Artist Foundation, an artist colony supporting emerging talent.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1041023/)
## References
1. [Navid Negahban official website](https://navidnegahban.com/)
2. [Navid Negahban, Moviefone biography](https://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/navid-negahban/374821/main/)
3. [Negahban, Navid 1968-, Encyclopedia.com (Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television)](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/negahban-navid-1968)
4. [Navid Negahban biography and filmography, Serienjunkies](https://www.serienjunkies.de/person/navid-negahban/23614/)
5. [Navid Negahban, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1041023/)
6. [Navid Negahban, The Long Version (official biography)](https://navidnegahban.com/navid-bio-long-version-final)
7. [Production notes, The Stoning of Soraya M. (Filmtrack/Mongrel Media PDF)](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F53%2F534bb784-5ac2-4aa4-afea-e0e55bcbb0b8.pdf)
8. [GAME CHANGER: Navid Negahban On His Artistic Evolution & Role On FX's 'Legion', Icon Vs. Icon (2018)](https://www.iconvsicon.com/2018/04/02/game-changer-navid-negahban-on-his-artistic-evolution-and-role-on-fxs-legion/)
9. [Interview with Navid Negahban, ZH Magazine](https://zhmagazine.com/interview-with-navid-negahban/)
10. [Navid Negahban Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/navid_negahban_2)
11. [Navid Negahban, Famous Birthdays](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/navid-negahban.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Actors and actresses by country or nationality*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license